Are display notches really better than bezels? [Poll of the Week]

Last week’s poll summary: Out of almost 5,500 total votes, 39.1% of our readers said they don’t care about their smartphone’s screen resolution as long as it’s at least Full HD. 35% said they need to have a Quad HD resolution, while 19.1% said they prefer to have a Full HD resolution. Just 5.2% said they don’t care at all about their phone’s screen resolution.

Notches vs bezels: the great debate that absolutely no one thought we’d be having in 2017.

This year, smartphone manufacturers are really pushing the boundaries in terms of design. Our phones look more futuristic than ever, and that’s thanks to the growing trend of near bezel-less designs. And according to most manufacturers, there are two ways to go about it.

For phones like the Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, Note 8, G6, and V30, Samsung and LG have chosen to go with full-screen displays that don’t quite reach to the top and bottom of the front panels, leaving a little bit of bezel on the top and bottom for the front-facing camera.

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For devices like the Essential Phone and iPhone X, however, Essential and Apple have decided to ditch bezels completely, instead opting for a small notch at the top of the display to house the front cameras. There are a few problems with this method though. For starters, developers need to adapt their applications to work with these notches (at least in the iPhone’s case). Also, completely removing the bezel around the screen means there’s definitely no room for front-facing speakers – a feature I’m sure a lot of our readers have been missing since the Nexus 6P days.

Personally, I prefer my phone to have zero notches in its display. I really like the look of the Galaxy S8/Note 8 and LG V30, and I can’t imagine why someone would get so annoyed at the minimal bezels that they’d rather put a notch at the top.

That’s just my opinion however. What about you? Do you prefer the full screen/notch look of the Essential Phone and iPhone X, or do you like the look of the “near” bezel-less phones like the S8, Note 8, G6, and so on? Be sure to cast your vote in the poll attached below, and speak up in the comments if there’s anything you’d like to add.